Australia

Chronology of Coverage

Jul. 26, 2015

Australian authorities arrest Adam Brookman, nurse who claims he was forced to work with Islamic State militants while in Syria, upon his return to Sydney; Brookman claims he escaped group and crossed border into Turkey. MORE

Jul. 24, 2015

Fifteen-year-old British boy pleads guilty to inciting terrorist attack in Australia in 2014; his sentencing is set for Sept 3. MORE

Jun. 22, 2015

Indonesian smuggler says Australian authorities stopped his boat at sea and paid him over $30,000 to return 65 migrants he was carrying to Indonesia; story, if confirmed, points to tightening of Australia's immigration policy under Prime Min Tony Abbott and potential violation of Austrailan, Indonesian and international laws governing smuggling, bribery and treatment of asylum seekers. MORE

Jun. 14, 2015

Australian Prime Min Tony Abbott faces accusations that government paid smugglers to return boat full of migrants to Indonesia; opposition lawmakers will press Abbott, who refuses to confirm or deny claim made by migrants on ship, to reveal truth. MORE

Jun. 13, 2015

United Nations officials say some of 65 Asian migrants who arrived in Indonesia after being intercepted by Australian authorities tell refugee workers that Australians paid smugglers to take them to Indonesia; report has raised questions about hard-line immigration policies that helped Australian Prime Min Tony Abbott win election in 2013. MORE

Jun. 10, 2015

Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Matthew Dellavedova is not first Australian athlete to become favorite in Cleveland; Joe Quinn, who joined baseball team Cleveland Spiders in 1899 as player-manager, was extremely popular despite team's 20-134 record for season. MORE

Jun. 5, 2015

Cambodia agrees to accept three Iranians and one Rohingya man from Myanmar who were turned away by Australia, as part of $32 million agreement between the two countries; human rights advocates denounce plan to resettle hundreds of asylum seekers in impoverished Cambodia, calling it as misguided and inhumane. MORE

May. 30, 2015

World Heritage Center and International Union for Conservation of Nature issue report detailing threats to Great Barrier Reef from climate change and human activity, but do not recommend classifying reef as 'in danger'; report criticizes Australian plans to dump dredge soils in waters near reef; recommendations in report will be put to vote at World Heritage Committee. MORE

May. 15, 2015

Australian officials say actor Johnny Depp has two days to deport his two Yorkshire terriers, which he sneaked into country illegally by bypassing strict documenting and quarantine rules, or they will be killed. MORE

May. 4, 2015

China's operations in Antarctica have become fastest-growing in world, giving rise to concerns that it is positioning itself to exploit continent's resources when international treaty expires; has increased research spending in region, catching up to early explorers Australia and United States, both of which face budget constraints; scientific presence in Antarctica is seen as way to establish claim amid disputed sovereignty. MORE

Apr. 23, 2015

Carnegie Wave Energy, Perth-based company, is piloting effort to use motion of waves off coast of Australia to generate electricity through series of buoys; project will initially produce about 5 percent of the electricity used at HMAS Stirling, Australia's largest naval base, and will also help run desalination plant that produces about one-third of base's potable water supply. MORE

Apr. 19, 2015

Australian police arrest five men for planning terrorist attacks that were set to have coincided with holiday commemorating landing of Australian troops in Turkey during World War I; police, who had been monitoring men, suspect that potential attack was inspired by Islamic State. MORE

Apr. 17, 2015

Malaysia, Australia and China will expand their search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 that went missing over Indian Ocean more than year ago if it is not found before June 2015. MORE

Apr. 7, 2015

Lawyer for Australian drug smugglers Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran hopes to bring case to constitutional court after death sentences appeal was rejected by Indonesian court. MORE

Mar. 31, 2015

The Guardian reports Australian immigration department accidentally emailed personal information, including passport numbers, about Pres Obama and 30 other world leaders to an international sports committee employee; email was quickly deleted and protocols to limit further breaches have been strengthened. MORE

Mar. 28, 2015

Australian diplomatic office in Kenya warns of possible pending terrorist attack in Nairobi. MORE

Mar. 24, 2015

American private equity firms, in spite of chilly reception in Australia, are moving forward with investments in country; they are seen as attempting to buy Australian firms cheaply; since 2004, 337 buyout transactions by private equity firms have totaled $45.08 billion. MORE

Mar. 17, 2015

Hobart Journal; gambler and mathematician David Walsh has built lavish Museum of Old and New Art near his childhood home in Tasmania, drawing visitors of all kinds to remote Australian island. MORE

Mar. 3, 2015

Australia will send 300 additional troops to Iraq for training, support and protection teams as part of international coalition against Islamic State; troops will work alongside New Zealand's contingent in Taji, northwest of Baghdad. MORE

Feb. 24, 2015

Australian Prime Min Tony Abbott announces national counterterrorism strategy that includes revoking citizenship or curbing rights of Australians involved in terrorist activity as well as tightening laws on immigration and hate speech. MORE

Feb. 22, 2015

New Zealand Breakers, former outsider team in Australia’s National Basketball League, have overcome rocky beginning by winning three of league's past four championships and have already secured playoff spot with 19-8 record entering their regular-season finale against Cairns Taipans (Series: Not the Knicks). MORE

Feb. 17, 2015

Indonesian Pres Joko Widodo rejects several clemency appeals by Australian government on behalf of 2 men convicted of drug smuggling and facing execution; Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, leaders of Bali Nine group, are sentenced to be executed for 2005 attempt to smuggle 18 pounds of heroin into Australia. MORE

Feb. 11, 2015

Australian police arrest two men in Sydney suburb on suspicion of intent to carry out imminent terrorist attack. MORE

Feb. 10, 2015

Study in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests extinction of many species endemic to Australia has been caused by introduction and procreation of feral cats and red foxes starting in late 1800s; lead author Prof Jon Woinarski of Charles Darwin University holds 10 percent of Australia’s land mammal species have been wiped out as result. MORE

Feb. 9, 2015

Australian Prime Min Tony Abbott keeps his position after lawmakers from his conservative party vote against move to declare top posts vacant. MORE

Feb. 3, 2015

Australian Prime Min Tony Abbott says his government will refocus its attention on the economy and will abandon unpopular policies it had tried to pursue, course correction he attributes to defeat suffered by his conservative coalition in election in Queensland. MORE

Jan. 29, 2015

Coroner's report shows that Katrina Dawson, hostage held by gunman Man Haron Monis in Sydney cafe in December, was killed by police bullet fragments; fragments ricocheted off hard surfaces in cafe as police attempted to take down Monis. MORE

Jan. 6, 2015

Australian officials say large uncontrolled wildfire that has raged for days in southern part of country has badly damaged or destroyed more than two dozen homes and compelled thousands of residents to flee. MORE

Dec. 19, 2014

Australian Muslims are relieved there has been no backlash after radical Iranian immigrant Man Haron Monis took hostages at cafe in downtown Sydney; are concerned Australia may reverse its integration efforts and tenuous acceptance of Muslims. MORE

Dec. 17, 2014

Australian Prime Min Tony Abbott is among critics of authorities who were familiar with criminal record and radical views of Man Haron Monis, gunman in 16-hour seige of Sydney restaurant that left two hostages dead; fact that Monis was left unmonitored despite charges against him has stoked debate over effectiveness of wide raft of counter-terrorism measures recently put into place in Australia. MORE

Dec. 17, 2014

Julia Baird Op-Ed article asserts that hostage-taking in Sydney by Man Haron Monis underscores fact that Australia can no longer rely on its geographical remoteness; questions new terrorist policies being considered in wake of attack, as current ones should have been sufficient to prevent it; observes that most heartening part of response was enormous wave of concern about whether event would result in aggressive behavior toward Muslims. MORE

Dec. 16, 2014

Sydney residents, in show of solidarity, use Twitter hashtag to offer to ride with Muslims on trains and buses who are fearful of repercussions from attack carried out by Iranian immigrant Man Haron Monis. MORE

Dec. 16, 2014

Man Haron Monis, Iranian immigrant to Australia who seized hostages in downtown Sydney cafe, is killed in police raid; two hostages are left dead; Monis was known both to police and leaders of Muslim organizations as deeply troubled man with long history of run-ins with the law. MORE

Dec. 15, 2014

Armed individual takes hostages at the Lindt Chocolate Cafe in Sydney, Australia, hoisting black flag with Arabic script in window; police officers surround cafe and Prime Min Tony Abbott convenes meeting with security advisers; number of hostages and motivation of perpetrator remain unclear, though three hostages have so far been released. MORE

Dec. 14, 2014

Toyota, Ford and Holden subsidiary of General Motors, three remaining auto plants in Australia, will shut their manufacturing operations over next few years, marking the end of a venerable, distinctive and once-vibrant industry. MORE

Dec. 12, 2014

Parliamentary inquiry reports that Australian government failed to protect asylum seekers, most of them from Iran and Afghanistan, who were locked up in Papua New Guinea during two days of riots in February 2014. MORE

Nov. 28, 2014

Popular Australian cricket player Phillip Hughes dies two days after being struck by ball in neck, while batting; accident stuns fans and fellow players and renews long-running debate over safety in the sport, in which it is not unusual for the ball to strike a player. MORE

Nov. 15, 2014

President Obama, in Australia for Group of 20 summit, emphasizes his commitment to Asia, telling audience of students at town hall meeting that America could be instrumental in establishing order, cooperation and democracy in Asia Pacific region. MORE

Nov. 10, 2014

Australia, much like the United States, is about to test just how much work employers can ask young workers to perform in unpaid internships before facing fines for breaking country's labor laws; prominent case involves sports broadcaster Crocmedia, which is in court over issue. MORE

Nov. 8, 2014

Australia is close to signing agreement to ship live cattle to China, opening up significant market for producers, who say exports could grow to one million animals a year. MORE

Oct. 21, 2014

Reece Pedler study in journal Biology Letters concludes the banded stilt, a nomadic water bird found in inland salt lakes in Australia, is able to sense and move toward rainfall hundreds of miles away. MORE

Oct. 15, 2014

Australian Prime Min Tony Abbot becomes the latest world leader to take umbrage at Russian Pres Vladimir V Putin; vows to aggressively confront Putin at Group of 20 economic forum in Brisbane, citing the death of 28 Australian citizens in the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in eastern Ukraine. MORE

Oct. 8, 2014

Australia will introduce system to ban foreign 'hate preachers' from entering the country and will try to outlaw the radical Islamic group Hizb-ut-Tahrir. MORE

Oct. 7, 2014

Three-dimensional maps point to huge scale of task ahead as searchers begin deep-sea hunt for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, which disappeared March 8; maps are first produced of remote region off Western Australian coast where missing plane is thought to have run out of fuel. MORE

Sep. 30, 2014

Five groups of researchers say savage heat waves that struck Australia in 2013 were almost certainly a direct consequence of greenhouse gases released by human activity; it is perhaps the most definitive statement climate scientists have made tying a specific weather event to global warming. MORE

Sep. 27, 2014

Intercepted phone call said to have been made by Islamic State militant Mohammad Ali Baryalei sets off largest counterterrorism operation in Australian history; officers arrest Sydney man who Baryalei is said to have asked to carry out a beheading on camera; case is one of few known instances of ISIS attempting a terrorist act outside its home base in the Middle East. MORE

Sep. 27, 2014

Australia signs agreement with Cambodia to resettle refugees back within its borders; agreement comes despite strong protests from human rights groups that believe agreement violates Australia's obligations to protect vulnerable children and families under international law. MORE

Sep. 20, 2014

Australian government intensifies security at national Parliament building, after police detain 15 people in raids that Prime Min Tony Abbott say is investigation into suspected supporters of of group Islamic State. MORE

There are no additional abstracts to display.

General Information on Australia

Official Name: Commonwealth of Australia
Capital: Canberra (Current local time)
Government Type: Federal parliamentary democracy
Population: 20.434 million
Area: 3 million square miles; about the size of 48 contiguous United States
Languages: English, some Chinese and Italian
GDP Per Capita: $33,300
Year of Independence: 1901
Web site:Australia.gov.au

{"type":"article","show_header_text":false,"header":"Articles","query":"","search_query":"(glocations.contains:\"Australia\" OR glocations.contains:\"\\(Australia\\)\") AND -type_of_material:\"Editorial\" AND -type_of_material:\"Correction\" AND -type_of_material:\"Obituary\" AND -type_of_material:\"paid death notice\" AND -headline:\"paid notice\" AND -type_of_material:\"Caption\" AND -type_of_material:\"Summary\" AND -type_of_material:\"Schedule\" AND -type_of_material:\"Letter\" AND -news_desk:\"Travel\" AND -news_desk:\"Escapes\" AND -news_desk:\"Dining\" AND -news_desk:\"Fashion\" AND -news_desk:\"Fashions\" AND -news_desk:\"Style\" AND -news_desk:\"Styles\" AND -news_desk:\"Society\" AND -news_desk:\"Home\" AND -news_desk:\"Home\/Style\" AND -news_desk:\"Living\" AND -news_desk:\"Beauty\" AND -news_desk:\"Design\" AND -news_desk:\"Theater\" AND -subject:\"Theater\" AND -news_desk:\"Movies\" AND -subject:\"Motion Pictures\" AND -subject:\"Movies\" AND -news_desk:\"Great Homes and Destinations\"","num_search_articles":"15","show_summary":true,"show_byline":true,"show_pub_date":true,"hide_thumbnails":false,"show_kicker":false,"show_title":false,"show_related_topics":true,"show_rad_links":true,"show_subtopics":true,"exclude_topics":"AUSTRALIA","more_on_header":"MORE ON AUSTRALIA AND:","alternate_index_subidx":"","show_thumbnails":true}